Hurricane Helene barreled through Florida with catastrophic storm surge and devastating winds, then poured inland across the Southeast with heavy rains that triggered extreme flash flooding and record flooding in the Carolinas and Tennessee.

A historic landing: According to the National Hurricane Center, Helene made landfall at 11:10 p.m. EDT on September 26 about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, Florida, with Category 4 intensity and winds of 140 mph and a pressure of 938 millibars.

Helene was the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida, stronger than Idalia in 2023, which made a Category 3 landfall with winds of 115 miles per hour and a pressure of 950 millibars, and a hurricane of Cedar Keys in 1896 with winds of 125 miles per hour.

H​elene was also the third hurricane to make landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida in nearly 13 months. Three of the last five hurricanes to make landfall in the continental United States hit this Big Bend region.

Storm surge: Based on post-storm models, the peak of a storm surge is estimated to have reached more than 15 feet above ground level in the Big Bend region of Florida. The area will be surveyed at a later date to determine the actual storm surge heights measured.

In Cedar Key, an estimated 9.3 feet of flooding and a peak flood of 10.33 feet appeared to exceed the city’s record rise following an 1896 hurricane.

H​elene’s upswing also seemed to break today’s records from Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area, with flooding of 6 to 7.2 feet above ground level recorded by tide gauges. Clearwater Beach surpassed its record by the March 1993 superstorm, while St. Petersburg surpassed its record by Hurricane Elena in 1985.

Also in Ft. Significant flooding was reported. Myers Beach and Naples, where gauges measured 4 to 5 feet of flooding. Water 5 to 6 feet above normal was observed in the Punta Gorda canal system, according to an amateur radio operator.

Rain flooding: The combination of heavy rain a day before Helene – something meteorologists call a “precursor rain event” – and Helene’s rain over hilly and mountainous terrain triggered catastrophic flash flooding and river flooding from Georgia to western Carolina, eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia .

Record flood crests were measured in at least seven locations in North Carolina and Tennessee, including the Pigeon River in Newport, Tennessee, the French Broad River in Rosman, North Carolina, and the Swannanoa River in Biltmore (near Asheville, North Carolina). In parts of western North Carolina, records that had existed since the “Great Flood” of July 1916 were destroyed.

Floodwaters flowed through parts of Asheville and Boone, North Carolina. They flooded at least a section of Interstate 40, flooded a hospital in Tennessee, prompting rooftop evacuation by helicopter, and damaged an embankment, forcing the evacuation of Newport, Tennessee.

At one point on September 27, the National Weather Service declared more than 20 flash flood emergencies – the highest flash flood alert level – from metro Atlanta, Georgia, to southwest Virginia. That was the highest single-day spending in at least 13 years.

Rainfall totals exceeded 12 inches in parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The maximum total is nearly 30 inches near Busick, North Carolina. Asheville, North Carolina broke its two-day rainfall record (9.87 inches) that had stood for nearly 106 years. Atlanta also broke its 48-hour rainfall record (11.12 inches), which had stood since 1886.

Damaging Winds, Outages: The eyewall, where a hurricane’s fiercest winds blow, triggered a rare “Extreme Wind Warning,” a high-end warning issued only for eyewalls of Category 3 or stronger hurricanes to warn those in its path warn to seek shelter from these damaging winds as if a tornado warning has been issued.

Helene’s intensity at landfall and its rapid forward speed allowed strong winds to reach much further inland than is typical for a landfalling hurricane.

Wind gusts of 90 to 100 mph were recorded in several locations, led by Perry, Florida (99 mph) and between Live Oak, Florida and Valdosta, Georgia. A gust of up to 82 mph was measured as far north as Augusta, Georgia, a gust of 70 mph was measured as far north as Anderson, South Carolina, and gusts of more than 60 mph were as far north as Dayton , Ohio measured.

As of September 27, over 4 million customers were without power due to the storm from Florida to Virginia to Indiana.

Tornadoes: Landfalling hurricanes often trigger tornadoes in the outer rain bands both before and long after landfall, and Helene was no exception.

By the time the National Weather Service storm investigation is completed, over a dozen tornadoes may have formed in the prelandfall (September 25-26) and postlandfall (September 27) periods from Georgia to West Virginia.

Before making landfall in Wheeler County in southeast Georgia, a tornado destroyed a mobile home and claimed two lives.

One of the most devastating tornadoes hit Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on September 27th. Approximately 11 structures were damaged and 15 people were injured in this hurricane in eastern North Carolina.

Follow the history: The need to issue tropical storm warnings and hurricane warnings for western Cuba and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula led the NHC to begin warning of potential Tropical Cyclone Nine in the western Caribbean Sea on September 23.

The following morning, Tropical Storm Helene formed as bands of rain and strong winds swept across Cancún and Cozumel. Helene also produced heavy rain and some tropical squalls over parts of western Cuba.

H​elene then developed into a hurricane over the southern Gulf of Mexico on September 25th and rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane the evening before landfall on September 26th.

Helene became the second major hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season Thursday afternoon. By early evening, a NOAA Hurricane Hunter mission found that maximum winds had increased to Category 4 intensity just hours before landfall.